After a loner armed with assault weapons turned a scenic resort into a mass of mangled bodies and thrashing injured in 1996, Australia took quick and decisive action. Twelve days later, the government pushed through a tough ban on semiautomatic rifles. Australia, which had been bloodied by 13 mass shootings in the 15 years that preceded the slaughter in Port Arthur, Tasmania, hasn't seen one since. Gun control proponents say the Australian experience, and more modest successes in other nations that enacted strict gun controls after suffering mass shootings, could serve as examples to U.S. lawmakers dealing with the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre. They can take all 20.000 plus un-constitutional gun laws and shove them up their ass. If you want to see what Real Gun Control is, just Declare the Second Amendment dead, don’t neuter it slowly. Maybe its time to find out how many true Americans are left in this country ... http://abcnews.go.com

A mysterious golden pot discovered in a Bavarian lake in 2001 has been the focus of interest for archaeologists, art dealers -- and now the German and Swiss police. Its convoluted history involves Nazi cults, treasure hunters and modern-day profiteers. So there it was, the legendary "Holy Grail" -- in a safe not far from the Zurich airport. Investor Svetlana K. from Kazahkstan had been prepared for almost anything on that day last March. But when she saw what had been described as "probably the most important art-historical discovery in the Western Hemisphere" in front of her, all the other superlatives used in the four-page prospectus faded into the background. "An object of such pre-eminence has probably never been introduced onto the open art market," the document stated, adding that, "Given the proper promotion, experts believe its value could reach a sum of around €1 billion" ($1.4 billion)....http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,478958,00.html

A rookie cop from Saugus was stripped of his gun and badge after he was arrested at the famed Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for child abuse Saturday, a crime that allegedly occurred after he was caught by the father of a 12-year-old girl with a hidden camera attached to his sneaker, the Herald has learned. Michael Tarallo, 30, was arrested inside the casino strip Saturday afternoon after the girl’s father “observed something he didn’t like and confronted the suspect,” said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman, Officer Bill Cassell. “He had a video camera at the time of the struggle,” Cassell said, refusing to elaborate further. Authorities searched Tarallo’s hotel room and recovered videotapes. Cassell said Las Vegas investigators were awaiting a search warrant to view those tapes. The child abuse charge stems from an assault on the little girl, who was hit by a cell phone allegedly hurled by Tarallo as he attempted to flee her father, and ...http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=196827

Some 35,000 petroglyphs located in Pakistan's Indus River area will soon be flooded by a giant dam. An archeologist from Heidelberg is trying to save as much as he can before encroaching modernity destroys the remote area's cultural history. At first sight, it's difficult to tell whether the work going on near Nanga Parbat mountain (8,126 meters, 26,660 feet) has more to do with preserving the world or heralding its demise. Down by the Indus River, near a farmers' settlement called Basha, workers have built landing sites for helicopters. They have set up a cargo cablecar above the stream and technicians on the northern banks are drilling holes into the rock in order to search out hollow spaces in the depths. This being an earthquake zone, seismic analyses are also being conducted....http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,479215,00.html

Front-runners Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama go face to face along with six other Democratic presidential contenders on Thursday at the opening debate of the fast-starting 2008 campaign. With the presidential election in November 2008 still more than 18 months away, the eight Democratic White House candidates meet in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in the earliest presidential debate ever. Clinton, 59, the senator from New York who is seeking to become the first woman president, has been leading in most national polls. But Obama, 45, a Illinois senator who could be the first black president, has been rising in some polls and matched her in fund raising. Their face-off comes in an early primary state that holds the first nominating contest in the South in January 2008. "People are going to be able to see these candidates face to face for the first time and start to evaluate them," said Joe Erwin, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3083104

A highway pileup in northern Indiana killed at least eight people Thursday near a rain-drenched construction zone on the Indiana Toll Road, police said.The eight confirmed victims included five who died in a single vehicle, said 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten of the Indiana State Police.The 6:45 a.m. crash about 25 miles east of South Bend involved three semitrailers and three cars and may have been caused by driver inattention, Bursten said."As far as who was the inattentive driver, we're trying to determine that now," he said.Investigators were collecting evidence and working to identify the victims, Bursten said.Bristol Fire Chief William Dempster said four of the victims were Amish residents of nearby LaGrange County....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268688,00.html